


Wholesome American Fun: A Road Trip Story

by MxGryffindorOtaku



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 'staple nations' lol, ((ohmygod i forgot to tag the spamano)), Acadia National Park, Al breaks shit, Aunt Jemima's, Bears, China tells a story, Communism, England was a PIRATE damnit, Fluff, Hiking, Hippies, Hitchhiker, Hitchhiking, I'll put more tags in as we go, It's a road trip bitch, Ivan is confused by the idea of 'warm', M/M, NO COCONUTS, Ooooh boy where do I even start, People reviewed?!?!?!?!, Ritualistic Sacrifice, Road Trip, Wrestling, Yao is a little bitch and I love him, also: so much friendship fluff, and there's like A LOT of road trip games, awesome tee-shirts and less awesome suits, bc they're there but they're not there at the same time, buckle up 'cause this got more than one chapter, but Spain is there so that's gotta count for something, countries are dominoes, duh - Freeform, francis ruins the moment, french gets lost in translation, gilbert and his five billion cellphones, he doesn't need SUNSCREEN, idk man, idk what I'm doing with these tags I'm sorry guys, in other news: Human names used!, is it just me or are established relationships the best, italians love fast cars, matt does NOT appreciate his brother, matt is NOT a morning person, neither is lovi, okay, purple rain ponchos, road trip games, shitty maine accents, sorta - Freeform, sorta?, that's all for now, the sunrise is nice, the twins are scary as hell, the van looks like a rainbow threw up on it, the van smells like death, the van smells like drugs, there are also hippies involved, there is no General Ass this time I apologize, waking up sucks, way to go francis, we gonna have a good time, you like this shit?!?!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-18 05:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10610559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MxGryffindorOtaku/pseuds/MxGryffindorOtaku
Summary: The twins’ sibling road trip across the US and Canada is hijacked by the rest of the G8 (plus some other staple nations). Relieve yourselves now! We ain’t stoppin’ ‘till we’re past state lines!





	1. The Definition of a Road Trip. Or: The Meeting.

**Author's Note:**

> Bonjour! I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this, but I wrote it anyways. Big thanks to my lovely beta MorganTheRaverin for putting up with my bullshit (not that they really have a choice in the matter). Anyways! I made a road trip playlist to write this to and I'll put a song from it at the top of every chapter. This chapter's song is: Little Red Corvette by Prince!  
> What else...  
> I think that's it!  
> Enjoy, s'il te plaît!

The twins walked in chatting happily about something in a language no one else understood. Of course, at first, no one could see Matthew, so they just thought Alfred was talking to himself. Oh how nice, the most powerful country in the world had an imaginary friend! Then, of course, they saw Matthew and the whole imaginary friend matter was cleared up.

What the two were talking about? Not so much. Alfred was speaking quickly and Matthew was ticking things off with his fingers and nodding. No one really figured to ask them, it couldn't have been that important. Of course, its being a plot point would make it very important later on.

The meeting started and descended into chaos very quickly. The fact that Alfred was humming ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ the whole time didn't do much to help. When the meeting turned from a shouting match to a fist fight, the twins turned back to each other and recommenced their chat in the language no one knew.

Though he was mildly distracted reenacting the Hundred Years War with Francis, Arthur caught something in the twins’ expression that made him uneasy. They seemed a little  _ too _ excited for Arthur’s liking. He tapped Francis on the shoulder and gestured to their little brothers. The two shared a nod of agreement (surprising? very) before making their way over to the twins.

“What are you lads talking about over here then?” Arthur asked them casually.

The twins halted their conversation and looked up at their older brothers happily. Then Alfred loudly stated… um… something? He said it in the language that he and his brother had just been speaking. All of the squabbling nations looked up at the odd, unfamiliar sound. Alfred’s face took on a pink tint and he cleared his throat. “I meant to say that Matt and I are just talking about our road trip!”

“...A ‘road trip’?” Francis asked with a tilt of his head.

“Oh you know,” Matthew said, “a road trip!”

The two were handed more blank stares.

“Like when you take a trip,” Alfred told them. “On the road. And, you know, do stuff.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific than ‘do stuff’, Alfred,” Ludwig deadpanned.

“I feel like I shouldn’t though…” Alfred frowned. “Everybody oughta know what a road trip is!” His comment was met with a round of nos. He looked helplessly at his brother who looked just as lost as he did. “Y’all tryin’ to tell me y’all ain’t got  _ road trips _ in Europe or somethin’?”

“None in Asia either,” Yao supplied helpfully. “Just in case you cared.”

The twins looked appalled. “Surely you just call them by a different name then!” Matthew said desperately. “Road trips are- they’re- they’re  _ road trips _ !”

“What the fuck is a road trip then?” Lovino asked impatiently as Antonio pawed at his hair. “You can’t define a word with the word!”

“Road trips are when you get in the car and just  _ drive _ ,” Alfred said, gesturing wildly. “You drive across the whole county if you want to! You play I Spy and license plate bingo-”

Here his brother seamlessly interrupted him, continuing his sentence without missing a beat ,“-you stop at gas stations in the middle of the night for crappy snacks! You listen to road trip music-”

Again, a seamless interruption, “-You sleep in motels and stop and see all the landmarks before gettin’ back in the car and drivin’ again-”

“-Road trips are full of sprawling fields and beautiful hills-”

“-You celebrate after you cross every state or province line-”

“-Pick up hitchhikers-”

“-Stop at diners and make friends with truckers-”

“-Meet motorcycle gangs-”

“-It’s the  _ most _ fun thing!”

They both paused for breath, then, in unison: “Road trips are your classic, cliche, fun thing to do with your friends and family!”

After a moment Arthur slowly shook his head. “Nothing like that in Europe.”

“Or Asia,” Yao said. “Again, just in case you cared.”

The twins looked like they either wanted to kill the rest of the nations or weep for their souls.

“Ludwig, can  _ we _ go on a road trip?” Feliciano asked excitedly. “Can we, can we, can we?”

“Uh…”

Feliciano bounced over to the North Americans. “Where are you going on your road trip?” He asked shaking Alfred’s shoulder.

“Everywhere!” Alfred said happily, recovering from his previous shock. “We’re gonna do everything and see everything! All ‘cross the continent!”

“ _ Really?! _ ” Feli bounced up and down. “Are you going to the Rocky Mountains?!”

“Uh, yeah?” Matt said cocking his head to the side a bit. “Why’d you ask?”

“Oh, I’ve  _ always _ wanted to go! I’ve heard Pikes Peak is  _ beautiful _ . I need some more inspiration for my paintings!”

Alfred beamed. When another country complemented another’s land… well it was a nice feeling. “The plan at the moment is to hit the top of Pikes Peak… You can come with us if you want!”

Feliciano tackle hugged the American with an excited shout. “Can Luddy come too?  _ Per favore _ ?”

The twins share a look then shrugged. “Sure, dude! The more the merrier!”

“ _ Grazie _ ! Lovi too?”

“Why not!” Matthew said.

“Well, if my little Lovi is going then I am too!” Antonio cried.

“If West is going than my awesome self will be on that awesome road trip!” Gilbert declared.

“Gilbert, when did you even get here?” Ludwig asked.

The Prussian ignored his brother, “Francis too!”

“Sure!” Matthew clapped his hands together.

“And  _ mon rosbif _ ,  _ aussie _ !” Francis chirped.

“You bring that roast beef, Francis!” Alfred bobbed his head up and down, they were speaking of Arthur, of course. Not real roast beef.

“Bastards,” the Brit sighed.

Ivan looked up from where he was talking with Yao. “Can we come as well?”

There was a beat of silence, before Alfred happily exclaimed: “Get on over here, commies!” He cast a quick glance around the room. “Kiku! You’ll come too, right! If we’re  _ all _ going you gotta come too!”

“Sure, Alfred~chan. I’ll come too,” Kiku said with a slight bow.

The American whooped and his brother grinned.

Feli bounced up and down. “This will be so much fun! I’ve never been on a road trip before! I hope we don’t meet a motorcycle gang though… They’re  _ scary _ !”

“You shouldn't worry about those, Feli,” Gilbert said, slinging an arm around the Italian’s shoulders. “ _ Mein _ awesome brother- raised by  _ mein _ awesome self- will protect you!”

Ludwig shrugged. “ _ Ja.  _ You’ll be fine.”

“Ve~!  _ Grazie _ !”

Suddenly the twins frowned. “Matt, you’re realizing the same problem that I’m realizing, right?”

“Indeed.”

“What’s the problem then, boys?” Arthur asked as everyone else quieted down.

“Well,” Alfred started, “we were going to take the truck-”

“-but we’re not all going to fit in  _ that _ -”

“-it’s built for three or four at  _ most _ …”

“That is problematic…” Ivan said.

They all lapsed into silence, trying to think of a solution to the problem. Finally Matt quietly said, “Al, you’re going to hate this, but it’ll work-”

“Oh hell no,” Alfred deadpanned.

“There’s enough room for all of us-”

“Matt, that thing smells like all  _ sorts _ of nastiness,” the southern twin argued.

“Air it out overnight then!” The elder retorted.

“We can’t be sure that it’ll make it ‘cross the country! Much less the  _ both _ of ours!”

“It’s done it before.”

“But-”

“Al, really. I know you’re embarrassed about your hippie van, but you really need to get over it.”

Silence. Then: “Did you just say the star-spangled bastard has a  _ hippie van _ ?” You could hear the laugher in Lovino’s voice. Alfred turned several lovely shades of red.

“You know, sometimes I forget that you  _ were _ a hippie,  _ mon cher _ !” Francis cackled.

“You went to Woodstock too, didn’t you?” Yao asked.

“Oh, he sure did!” Matt told them mischievously. “He trucked it all the way from Cali to New York with some random humans for that.”

“Matt you were literally  _ there _ when that happened! You were in that van!” It was the Canadian’s turn to go bright pink. “Plus, I wasn’t the  _ only _ hippie,” Alfred crossed his arms. “I’m lookin’ at  _ you  _ west Europe.”

After some more hippie type conversation, Alfred conceded to let them take his van for the trip. And so, the gang abandoned the UN headquarters building in New York and ‘hopped’ to Alfred’s house in Virginia.

Let the road tripping begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I heard that road trips aren't really a thing in Europe or Asia, so there's that. If that's not true, please tell me and I will correct my knowledge!  
> If you like the story so far, leave a review! They encourage me to keep writing!  
> If you have any ideas on what our group should do in each place they visit, please tell me! I would appreciate it ever so much! (we're starting in Maine, btw)  
> Merci d'être la!


	2. Bring This, Leave That. Or: How to Care for Your Hippie Van.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Welcome, back! Thank you for coming!  
> And special hanks to those people who commented, it made me very happy!  
> Shoutout to my beta, the wonderful MorganTheRaverin, who is great and fabulous, if not a bit confused as to why I do the things I do.  
> I think that's it, so without further a-do,  
> Enjoy, s'il vous plaît!  
> I almost forgot! This chapter's song from the list is: Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones!  
> Now you can enjoy!

The first thing they checked on was the van. Alfred’s garage, it should be noted, was  _ huge _ . The man had a lot of cars. Gilbert had to be dragged away from a particularly fast looking Bugatti. Alfred promised both the Prussian and the Italians that they could drive it later.

So they walked past several very fast, very expensive cars and finally arrived at an old Volkswagen bus. It was very, very,  _ very _ brightly colored, painted up with peace slogans, flowers, and smiley faces. It said ‘Road Trip ‘66’ and ‘Woodstock ‘69’ across the front. Despite its obvious age, it was well taken care of, colors still bright and fender intact.

Alfred opened one of the side doors, climbed into the bus, and… immediately jumped back out with his hand over his nose. “Oh, Christ have  _ mercy _ ! Where’s my gas mask?”

“It can’t smell  _ that _ bad,” Toni said flippantly. He walked up and climbed in the bus. “¡ _ CHINGADOS!” _ The Spaniard lept out of the van. “What drugs did you  _ do _ in there, Alfred?”

“Honestly? I don’t really want to know.” The American walked to the back of the garage and started throwing gas masks at everyone else. “Put those on and get in there! We gotta put the windows down!”

Twelve gas mask clad men climbed into the van, opened all the doors and rolled down all the windows. Kiku found an old Woodstock flier in the back. Lovi found a dead rat. After all the windows were down, Alfred ushered everyone out, started the bus, and pulled out of the garage and into the driveway. He promised to clean it that night.

The second thing they did was get their suitcases and belongings together for the trip. This proved to be a tedious process. Everyone had to ‘hop’ to their own homes, but they had to take Alfred with them so they could get back. And so he could tell them what they should even bring.

Ludwig tried to bring clothes that were too formal. Seriously, did the guy own anything that  _ wasn’t _ a suit? Alfred was sprawled out on the bed with Gilbert as the blonde German pawed through his dresser. The closet had literally nothing  _ but _ suit jackets.

“Shorts, Lud, shorts!” The American said, propping his chin up on his fist. “It’s summer. It’s hot.  _ Shorts _ . Jeans and tee-shirts. The only AC in that Volkswagen is the wind.”

“I don’t  _ have _ that!” Ludwig threw his hands up uselessly.

Alfred scoffed. “You don’t own a  _ single _ pair of jeans? Bullshit! I’ve  _ seen _ you wearing jeans!”

“But-”

Alfred stood up and walked over to the dresser. “Matter a fact, I’ve seen you wear a tee-shirt too.”

“I have a grand total of  _ one _ of each of those things!”

“Put ‘em in the suitcase!” Alfred said triumphantly. “We’ll buy you some other shit when we get on the road.” He cocked his head and sized Ludwig up. “Actually… you might fit in somethin’ of mine.”

“I’ll bring some awesome stuff for you too,  _ bruder _ ,” Gilbert declared.

Ludwig gathered his toiletries, socks, shoes, and underwear and stuffed them into the small suitcase that he was allowed. Per Alfred’s instructions he also put a more casual blazer in and, after Gilbert stuffed his suitcase with ‘awesome’ tee-shirts, the three ‘hopped’ back to Virginia.

Arthur tried to bring a rain poncho. Alfred didn’t even know that the Brit  _ allowed _ himself to wear rain ponchos. It must’ve ruined the ‘British Gentleman’ look that he was going for. Arthur was trying to convince Alfred that rain ponchos were a must for everyone and Alfred was trying to convince Arthur that it didn’t rain as much in the States as it did in London.

Neither side seemed to be letting up.

“Arthur, I’m serious. That’s just gonna take up space.” He frowned. “Why is it so damn big anyway? It’s just a rain poncho!”

“It’s a heavy duty poncho!” Arthur said, proudly holding up the insanely large poncho package with both hands. “I hear it always rains in Seattle. I bet you didn’t know  _ that _ .”

Alfred lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Actually I  _ do _ know that. I  _ live _ there. Sometimes.” He shook his head. “Either way, we’ll just get umbrellas when we get there.”

“Umbrellas are undignified,” Arthur stuck his nose up.

“And purple, heavy duty rain ponchos  _ aren’t _ ?”

Needless to say, Alfred won the argument.

Francis was too fashionable for his own good. He wanted to bring several expensive coats and designer shoes and so on and so forth. He was unwilling to listen to reason. Reason being: “Half the time you’ll be in the van and the other half will be hiking and walking around places. Listen to me Francis, comfort over beauty. You’ll thank me later, I promise.” Alfred was sitting on the floor, leaning his head against the door of Francis’s  _ huge _ walk-in closet.

“But,  _ mon cher _ -”

“No ifs, buts, or coconuts,” Alfred stated.

Francis frowned. “Coconuts…?”

“No coconuts.”

Francis left behind his fancy designer shoes and coats and brought fancy designer tee-shirts and jeans instead. Alfred, who wasn’t going to push his luck, left it at that.

Feliciano and Lovino were easy. They seemed to understand that it was summer and that it would be warm. They also seemed to be able to comprehend the concept of comfort over beauty. And they managed to still look fashionable without being, well, Francis. Alfred gave them an A+.

Yao was being difficult on purpose. He kept suggesting to bring formal robes and heavy coats just to piss Alfred off. It was working, but the blonde somehow kept his patience intact. Somehow.

“Well, I just really like this one, Alfred,” Yao told the American, who was leaning against the wall with an expression that clearly stated ‘kill me now’. He held up a long-sleeved, red piece decorated with winding dragons. “It really brings out my eyes, don’t you think?”

“Not really,” Alfred deadpanned. “But hey, if you want to melt in that while we’re in NOLA, be my guest and bring it ‘long with you.”

“NOLA?”

“New Orleans, Louisiana,” Alfred clarified. “You’ll melt pretty much anywhere, actually.”

Yao put his fancy shirt back where it came from and packed Alfred-approved clothing into his suitcase. “I hate you.”

“Bitch, you love me.”

Ivan wasn’t being difficult on  _ purpose _ persay. Alfred figured that the teddy bear of a Russian was just confused by the idea of warmth. “What do you mean, I will not need a scarf and coat?” He was asking the American who was laying on the floor. “I do not understand.”

“Ivan, please allow me to blow your tiny, Russian mind,” Alfred said, blowing a lock of hair out of his face. “The United States are quite a bit closer to the equator than Siberia. Therefore, it's a  _ lot _ warmer.”

“Gloves instead of mittens?” Ivan asked innocently.

Alfred sighed. “Bless your heart, child. No! Leave the mittens  _ and  _ the gloves!”

Ivan eventually got the idea and found the stuff he took with him when he visited China. It was going to have to work for now.

Kiku took all of three minutes to pack. He understood the concept of shorts and tee-shirts as well. Plus, Alfred could appreciate the fact that his boyfriend looked adorable in shorts and a tee-shirt. Yay. A+ with bonus points for cute.

Antonio finished in ten minutes. The only rough patch was when Alfred said that he couldn't bring a suitcase as big as the one the Spaniard wanted to bring. They just didn't have enough room!

“Alfred,  _ amigo _ , I'm sure we can work this out. I  _ need _ this suitcase.”

“And I  _ need _ a drink,” Alfred countered. “But there are rules.”

Antonio scowled. “Fine.”

And then they were done. Finally. While all of this was happening, Matthew was feeding the nations in Virginia and then sending them off to bed. They were more than confused as to why they were being forced to bed at seven thirty, but the Canadian could be quite intimidating when he wanted to be, so they didn’t question it for long.

The twins, of course, stayed up later. They got food and things together, then Matt went to bed. Alfred? Not so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be absolutely no coconuts in this story. None. Sorry, Francis.  
> I'm sorry this chapter was kinda short, but I hope you liked it anyways!  
> Remember, comments and kudos make writers write!  
> Until next time...  
> Thanks for coming!


	3. Sleep is for the Dead. Or: Morning People vs. Everyone Else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the people who reviewed again! It made me smile!  
> Thank you to my AWESOME beta MorganTheRaverin for pledging themselves to this story unconditionally!  
> Our theme song for this chapter is: Good Morning by Grouplove ((this is like my fave song tbh))  
> Anything else...  
> Enjoy, s'il vous plaît!

Ludwig fell out of his bed. Which was not unusual persay. Feli had this nasty habit of pushing Ludwig off the bed in the mornings. But this time, Ludwig had fallen out of the bed of his own volition. Feli too, if the startled shout on the other side of the bed was anything to go by.

Someone was storming down the hallway banging something against something else and shouting “GET YOUR LAZY ASSES UP!” at the top of their lungs.

So that’s what startled them out of bed. Ludwig scrambled off the floor and opened the door of the guest bedroom. Feli scampered after him and the two peeked out. Across the hallway, Francis and Arthur were peering out of their room in a similar fashion to Ludwig and Feli. Ivan and Yao were doing the same next to the two blondes and Antonio and Lovino mirrored them across the hallway. Gilbert was staring out by himself, as was Kiku.

Alfred was standing in the middle of the hallway slamming two huge frying pans together and shouting. The now wide awake nations stared at him. Finally, Lovi started swearing: “ _ BASTARDO! VAFFANCULO!  _ GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU FUCKING BASTARD! WAKE ME UP AT FOUR AM ONE MORE TIME I  _ DARE _ YOU! _ ” _

Alfred grinned at him and slammed the frying pans together harder. Lovi kept swearing at him and everyone else simultaneously groaned. Eventually, Ludwig ran out of patience. “ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!” He roared, storming into the hall. Lovi bit his tongue and Alfred stopped  _ slamming _ the pans together in favor of  _ tapping _ them together. “Thank you.”

“Done, Luddy?” Alfred asked innocently, still tapping his pans together.

“ _ Ja _ .”

“Okay!”  He pulled the pans as far apart as he could and grinned. “I ain’t stopping ‘till y’all are dressed and ready for breakfast!” And with that, he brought the frying pans together with so much force that they shattered into what must have been several hundred pieces. Feliciano yelped and buried himself in Ludwig’s chest. Alfred frowned, “I stand corrected.” He tossed the pieces on the floor and tapped on the wall with his finger. “Clean up, please!” He called sweetly. The hundreds of pieces of frying pan were swept up by a little robot that came out of the floor. Alfred turned and started down the staircase. “Get dressed!”

Before anyone could move out of the hallway, Francis twirled out of his and Arthur’s room, completely dressed and with his hair pulled up into a messy- but attractive- man-bun. “ _ Bonjour, mes amis _ !” He sang before descending the stairs.

Ludwig, for the life of him, would  _ never _ understand morning people. He dragged Feli back into their room and the two of them got dressed.

Antonio, Alfred, and Francis were singing something or other as they bustled about the kitchen, preparing food and making coffee. Toni placed two cups in front of Ludwig and Feli as they took a seat at the counter. “ _ Danke. _ ”

“ _ De nada. _ ”

The three continued singing as the rest of the road trip party made their way downstairs. More cups of coffee were passed around and when everyone was finally present, Alfred dramatically placed a plate full of pancakes on the counter with orders to “fight to the death for the food”.

He seemed disappointed when there was no blood. Still, the boy was bouncing around like a wild puppy. He poured himself another cup of coffee.

“Alfred...” Ludwig started. “Do you really need  _ another _ cup of coffee? You’ve had three already.”

The American laughed. “I’ve been drinking coffee since the time y’all went to bed last night! I ain’t stopping  _ now _ !”

Francis stopped singing. “You didn’t  _ sleep _ ?!”

“I’ll have enough time to sleep when I’m dead!”

“Comrade, why were you up so late?” Ivan asked.

“Well, I’ll tell you,  _ Comrade _ .” Alfred leaned in and dropped his voice to a stage whisper like he was telling a secret. “I have these friends right? I like some of them, but others are downright  _ awful _ , but that’s beside the point. My brother Mattie and me were going to go on this  _ grand _ adventure. But we told them, like I mean they  _ asked _ , but now we have to bring these clowns  _ with us _ .” He brought his voice back to its normal volume (i.e. LOUD) and said, “SO I WAS UP ALL NIGHT FIXING THE VAN!”

“Bloody hell, there’s no need to  _ shout _ !” Arthur shrieked.

“Not shouting. Just talking.” Alfred smiled and did a head count. “Tsk-tsk. We’re missing someone…” Then, he got this  _ look _ on his face. Now, I’ll tell you, Ludwig had seen some pretty  _ terrifying _ faces in his day, but  _ this _ one had to take the cake. Imagine your average, shit-eating, cat-ate-the-canary grin. Got that? Good. Now multiply that by approximately ten hundred zillion.  _ That _ does not even  _ begin _ to compare to the look of pure  _ evil _ that crossed Alfred’s face.

He laughed darkly, picked a bottle of Aunt Jemima’s Syrup off the table, and disappeared up the stairs.

Exactly thirty seconds later, the confused/terrified nations in the kitchen heard a sing-songed, “Oh, Mattie~”.

About ten seconds later there was an angry shout of, “WHY YOU- mpff!”

Feliciano clung to Ludwig. “Luddy, they aren’t going to hurt each other, right?”

“Uh…”

_ CRASH! _

“AL, YOU’RE  _ DEAD _ !”

Alfred thundered down the stairs, laughing. The bottle of syrup he had taken upstairs was now empty. Matthew, in his pajamas, appeared at the top of the half-way landing. He looked  _ livid _ . The younger twin stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at his brother. The Canadian took this as an invitation to leap over the remaining stairs and onto the American.

Alfred went down with a yelp, Matthew grabbing hold of him as the two fell together. Alfred was still laughing. They grappled on the ground for a while, Arthur and Francis trying to find the best point of entry to break up the fight, and finally Matthew came out on top. Ludwig strongly suspected this to be because of the fact that Alfred was too busy laughing.

Matthew dug his knee into his brother’s rib cage and pressed down. Alfred’s laughter turned into breathy giggles. He reached up to push his brother off of him, but ended up only pawing uselessly at elder’s chest. Again, Ludwig suspected this to be caused by the laughter. Matthew reached down and wrapped his fingers around Alfred’s cowlick- Nantucket, if Ludwig remembered correctly- and  _ pulled _ .

Alfred yelped and stopped laughing. In one fluid motion, that Ludwig missed most of, the younger twin was suddenly on top and pinning the elder to the ground.

This was the point in time when the other ten nations saw it fit to pull the two apart, lest the situation get messy. Nine of them went to pull Alfred up and hold him back while Gilbert went and pulled his boyfriend to his feet.

Then began the most epic glaring battle between twins that the world had ever seen.

“Now boys, be reasonable,” Francis pleaded of the two. “We can’t have fighting before we’ve even left.”

Ludwig vaguely wondered how they’d managed to overlook the fact that all of them fought constantly. Why did anyone think this was ever going to work? Maybe they should cut their losses and go home. Ludwig was about to suggest such an idea when the twins up and started  _ laughing _ .

“Priceless!” Matthew cackled.

“Man, Matt, jumping over the staircase was fucking  _ epic _ , dude!”

“If not a bit reckless!” Arthur sputtered, apparently trying to comprehend the fact that this was a joke. “You two could have hurt yourselves!”

After some placating of Arthur and Francis on the part of the twins, more eating of pancakes, and more singing, someone finally asked Alfred why he had woken everyone up at four in the morning. He responded with “TO THE ROOF!” and ‘hopped’ away. 

“Well that was unawesome,” Gilbert said with a frown. “Where the hell did that loser go?”

“He literally said ‘to the roof’,” Matthew clipped affectionately. “Try and keep up, babe.”

“I really hope you know how to get there, Matthew,” Feli said looking around the room uneasily. Ludwig slipped his hand into his boyfriend’s with a small, comforting sound; the silly little Italian got scared so easily.

“Hurry, otherwise we’ll miss it.” Matthew led them to another staircase and they went up and up and up and up until finally, they came to a door. Matt pushed it open and then they were on the roof. Alfred was sitting on the edge, looking out, and swinging his feet.

“Took y’all long enough,” he said, not taking his eyes off the horizon. “C’mon, sit down. You’re right on time.”

Feli pulled Ludwig down next to Kiku, who sat next to Alfred. Gilbert and Matthew curled up on Ludwig’s right, Ivan and Yao next to them. Francis and Arthur were over to Alfred’s left, and Lovino and Antonio were even further in the same direction. Ludwig smiled ever so slightly. This was how things should be. He’d been sitting on the roof for all of two minutes and he already never wanted to leave.

And then the sun started to rise.

The sky gradually turned orange, spreading slowly from the brightest line on the horizon. Beautiful. They sat and watched for a while, not talking, just appreciating the fact that, despite politics and natural disasters, the sun would continue to rise for quite some time.

“Everyone…?” Yao asked cautiously.

“ _ Ja _ , Yao?”

“Can we make a deal that we don’t fight about politics for this trip?”

Ah, so everyone else had been thinking the same thing Ludwig had. “I like that idea,” he supplied.

“ _ Sí _ ,” Toni agreed. “I think that’s good plan.”

And so it was decided. There would be no talk of politics for however long this trip would be. Alfred even pulled out a notebook, labeled the front ‘Road Trip Rule Book’, and wrote that as the first rule. Then he decided that they add a few more rules to the list there on  the roof so they had more to start out with.

“ _ Avons bonheur _ ,” Francis suggested.

Ludwig choked. “You want us to have boners?!” He honestly wouldn’t have been that surprised.

“What? No!” Francis looked at everyone else in a state of panic. “I said ‘have  _ happiness _ ’!”

“I’m sure you said boner, Comrade,” Ivan frowned.

Matthew waved his hands frantically, coming to Francis’s rescue. “The French word for happiness just sounds a lot like boner! That’s it!”

The matter was cleared up, but the moment was effectively ruined, so they all headed back inside. They were ordered to grab their things and meet in the driveway. Ludwig guided Feli back to the room they had slept in and collected their backpacks (suitcases had been placed in the van last night).

“Ready, Luddy?”

“ _ Ja _ , one second, let me get  _ mein _ phone.” Ludwig pulled the charging cord out of his cellphone and tucked the device into his pocket. “You have yours, correct?” Feli held up his own phone with a little smile. “Then that’s everything, let’s go.”

The two traipsed down the stairs to join the others in the driveway. Somehow, the van looked brighter than it had yesterday, but maybe it was just the light. Ludwig and Feli were the last two to join the crowd so they picked up the pace and went to stand with the others. They were all looking at the front of the van which now said ‘Road Trip ‘66’, ‘Woodstock ‘69’, and ‘Int. Road Trip’ and the current year.

“Woah, Luddy!” Feli said excitably, pulling on Ludwig’s arm. “We’re commemorated on the van now!”

“ _ Ja _ ,” Ludwig said with a slight smile. “That we are.” Maybe this would be fun.

“Alright y’all!” Alfred called, grabbing everyone’s attention. Next to him, Matt was holding a metal bucket. “One last thing ‘fore we leave!”

Matt held up the bucket, “cell phones in here, please,” he said with a pleasant smile.

“...You want us to give up our phones?” Kiku asked nervously.

Alfred smiled and booped him on the nose. “I’ll think you’ll live, sugar. So everybody put your phones in this shitty-ass, old-ass bucket and then we’ll be on our way!”

“Where exactly is this ‘shitty-ass, old-ass bucket’ going to be for the duration of our trip?” Lovino asked.

“I dunno,” Alfred thought for a moment. “Somewheres in the kitchen most likely.”

Yao blanched. “You mean to say  we aren’t bringing them at all?!”

Alfred blinked innocently. “Unless my information is wrong, you’ve survived without an iPhone for upwards of forty thousand years, Yao.”

“That aside,” Arthur said, stepping in, “how are we to contact our bosses if something happens? How will we even  _ know _ if something happens?”

“That,” Alfred said holding up a literal  _ brick phone _ “is what  _ this _ is for.”

“What even the fuck is that thing?!” Lovi asked, appalled.

Alfred laughed and tossed the  _ thing _ over his shoulder. “Nah, I’m kiddin’! I have a phone that only accepts calls. All of your bosses have its number and vise-versa.” He grinned. “Now! Please place your cell phones in this shitty-ass, old-ass bucket! And let’s goooooo! We’re wasting daylight here, people!”

Cell phones were grudgingly placed in the bucket. For some reason Gilbert put in two, honestly, Ludwig wasn’t that surprised.  _ However _ , Matthew patted the elder German down and found  _ three more  _ cell phones hidden in his shoes and jacket. Ludwig couldn’t help but slam a hand to his face.  _ Only his brother _ . 

“Right!” Alfred said, clapping his hands together while Matt stuck the ‘shitty-ass, old-ass bucket’ in the garage. “I gotta confess real fast y’all.”

“Honhonhon, if we are confessing things, I must disclose some information about last night-”

“ _ FROG! _ ”

Yao covered his face with his hands and growled something about white people.

“I don’ wanna know, I don’ wanna know,” Alfred chanted. “ _ Gross _ . As I was saying, I gotta confess, we’s gonna be cheating a lil’ bit.”

“Cheating how?” Antonio asked.

“We’re starting our trip in Maine, y’all, but we obviously ain’t  _ in  _ Maine. So we’re hopping there, then we start!”

They all piled into the van, which was cleaner than it had been the night before, and settled in. Ludwig and Feli sat at a little table near the front while everyone else piled onto the couch-benches that lined the walls of the van. Matthew claimed shot-gun for himself. Ludwig felt like it was bigger than most Volkswagen buses, but he didn’t say anything.

The vehicle jolted as Alfred, who was still standing in the driveway, lifted it over his head. Ludwig tried to hold down his breakfast as he felt the unpleasant, yet familiar, sensation of ‘hopping’. It was gone as soon as it had come and Ludwig let out a breath, just as everyone else did. The van thudded gently to the ground and Alfred climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Welcome,” he said dramatically, “to Trenton, Maine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waah! I'm so mean! But I promise the actual road trip starts next chapter!  
> In other news, I tried to write in third person ~limited~ with Ludwig there... I don't know how much I liked it. I might switch back to third person unlimited in chapter five (four is already being written with limited). I dunno.  
> In other, ~other~ news, French is the best language on the planet and no one can convince me otherwise. The kids in my French class lost their shit when our teacher said 'bonheur'. The maturity in that room...  
> If anything was culturally inaccurate, TELL ME! I can't promise that I'll change it in this chapter, but I'll keep it in mind for others.  
> With all that said, don't forget to comment and I'll see you next time!


	4. Acad-what? Or: The Linguistic Guessing Game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! So. I decided to split this chapter into two parts instead of the original plan which was just one because I needed an update today and the whole second half of the chapter was ~not happening~. Reason? It SNOWED over the weekend (wtf @ the state of colorado) which is my primary writing time and I don't know if I can write about summer when I just got off the ski slopes (side note: A Basin parking sucks, just go backcountry).  
> Anyway!  
> Thank you to my beta MorganTheRaverin for being the best person on the planet ever and putting up with my shit spelling!  
> I also have to give credit to Lizze on Quotev (her link is FandomFox) for letting me use her road trip map! She's writing a similar story on there that I suggest you check out if you get the chance! (don't worry ours are nothing alike). Her story is called: All American Road trip.  
> Also, in the middle of this chapter Yao tells a story that I got off of ThoughtCo and reworded. So yeah.  
> Long author's note, sorry.  
> This chapter's song is: Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root!  
> With all that out of the way... enjoy!

Yao looked out the window. “It’s very green,” he decided outloud. He didn’t think anyone heard him, they were all too busy looking out the windows themselves. They all probably came to the same conclusion, anyway. Alfred whistled as he drove down the road.

“Where are we going?” Arthur asked the general population of the van.

Alfred took a break in his whistling long enough to say “Acadia” and then recommenced.

“Acad-what?”

“National Park,” Matthew clarified. “Acadia National Park.”

As if on cue, a brown sign appeared on the side of the road that read, “Acadia National Park, Chambers of Commerce Information, Park Entrance Passes, Right 1500 Feet”. And then the van was sailing over a bridge. The trees, that had previously dominated Yao’s field of vision, disappeared behind them and, looking out the windows, Yao was assaulted with blue.

“It’s so  _ pretty _ !” Feli cooed as he leaned over Ludwig’s lap to get a better view.

“Don’t go saying that  _ quite _ yet, Feli,” Alfred said as the van bumped back onto a regular land-road, he seemed to be struggling to keep the happiness out of his voice. “We’ve got a lot to see.”

“But it  _ is _ pretty!” The Italian insisted, crawling off Ludwig’s lap, poking his head over between the twins, and ignoring his brother shouting at him to sit down. “Your land is very pretty.”

Yao watched Alfred’s face in the rearview mirror, it went several wonderful shades of red and he sputtered a thanks.

“Oh, come off it, Feliciano,” Arthur said waving his hand, but smiling. “The lad doesn’t need the ego boost.”

“Are you kidding, Iggy?” Alfred asked, laughing. “I  _ always _ need an ego boost!”

Yao laughed, and it must’ve been pretty infectious, because soon everyone else was laughing as well. The van pulled up alongside a small wooden toll booth.

“Well, I’ll be damned!” The man inside the booth said to Alfred, Yao unconsciously leaned forward, trying to pick up every word he was saying as he had such a strong accent. “Never seen one of these since forever, naw.”

“Ayuh,” Alfred responded happily, or at least Yao  _ thought _ he was responding happily. He didn’t really know what ‘ayuh’ was supposed to mean.

“How many in there then?” The man in the booth asked, clearly satisfied with Alfred’s previous response.

“That’ll be twelve of us, I believe. How’s today, not too muggy?” Alfred asked as the man passed him a piece of paper.

“Not too muggy morning times, will be later, ayuh,” the man smiled.

“Thank you!”

Alfred rolled up the window and kept driving. The van lapsed into silence as the ten in the backseat tried to translate the conversation they had just witnessed. Finally, Kiku spoke up: “I have  _ several _ questions.”

“What abouts?” Alfred asked innocently. Yao saw his lips turn up into a little half smile.  _ Why that sneaky little shit _ ...

“Well, on behalf of everyone else in this van,” Lovino cut in, “I’d like to ask what the  _ fuck _ kind of language that was?”

“English…?” Alfred asked slowly.

“No,” Arthur decided, “it really isn’t.”

“They wanna know what ‘muggy’ means, you dunce,” Matt said simply, cuffing his brother on the head. “And ‘ayuh’. That one too.”

Alfred snickered. “I’ll letcha figure that out by yourselves.”

“You, sir,” Arthur said with a sigh, “are an arsehole.”

“Guilty as charged~.” Alfred pulled into a parking spot. “Everybody out!”

Yao and Ivan tumbled out the door, backpacks in hand, with everyone else and huddled by the van, looking around and squinting at the bright sun that had shown up some time in the past five minutes. The twins started walking off towards a trailhead and Yao had the good sense to follow them with Ivan in tow. The others picked up on the idea pretty fast; nobody likes getting left behind in a foreign place.

“It’s gonna be a bituva hike here, guys,” Alfred told them once they were all gathered together at the trailhead.

“I was a pirate,” Arthur said defiantly. “I can handle your pansy little hike, boy.”

Alfred put his hands up in the air with a ‘I’m done’ kind of expression on his face. “I’m not- nope. Not gonna even try.”

Matthew pulled a bottle of sunscreen out of his backpack and waved it. “Sunscreen everybody! Especially you, Arthur~!”

Yao struggled to bite down a laugh as the Brit shrieked something about pirates not needing sunscreen while his family chased him down with several bottles of the stuff.

“Hey potato bastard!”

Ludwig heaved a sigh. “ _ Ja _ , Lovino?”

The bad tempered Italian crossed his arms stubbornly. “Make sure my  _ fratello _ is wearing enough sunscreen,  _ ho capito _ ?”

Ludwig blinked. “Of course. Yeah. Got it.”

Something cold and wet touched the back of his neck and Yao jumped a meter up into the air with a yelp. “ _ Cuì _ ! It’s cold!”

Ivan looked down at Yao apologetically. “Sorry, Yao-Yao.” He held up his hands, which were covered in sunscreen. “I just didn’t want you to get burned.”

“It’s yourself you should be worrying about,” Yao tutted, grabbing the Russian’s hands and transferring the sunscreen to his own. “Make sure you get the back of your neck and your ears! And your face! And your-”

“Maybe just tell him to get his  _ everywhere _ really well, Yao,” Gilbert suggested, catching a bottle of sunscreen that his brother threw at him. “It would be faster!”

“I guess that’ll be faster for me too,” Matthew said appearing at Gil’s side. “Gilbert, if you miss a single spot on your body, I’ll kill you.”

“Mattie, don’t kill anybody on the first day, dammit!” Alfred called at his brother over Kiku’s head. “The ritualistic sacrifice isn’t ‘til we get to Texas!”

Everyone stared at him, mouths hanging open.

“Did I say that out loud? I meant… uh… TO THE LAKE!” He turned tail and sprinted up the trail. Half a second later, ten of the other eleven were chasing after him, shouting.

So, business as usual then. Yao sighed and started after the others; walking of course. At least it wasn't political. At least it wasn't really even fighting at all. He laughed. It was actually kind of funny! ...Unless they were actually being sacrificed in Texas… Yao didn’t really feel like being sacrificed in Texas. Or anywhere. But especially Texas.

He found everyone else up the trail a bit- they got rather far- piled up on top of Alfred, who was laying on the ground, smooshed. Yao laughed out loud. “Need some help, Alfred?”

“Nope!” He gasped; they must’ve been sitting on his rib cage. “Hero’s got this one! Move along, civilian!”

Yao gave him a  _ Look _ .

Alfred groaned. “Yes, okay. Help.”

Yao raised his eyebrow.

“ _ Please. _ ”

Yao pulled each of the other nations off of Alfred one by one, making sure that the process was as painstakingly long as possible. The others didn’t seem to have a problem with it. When that was done, Yao snatched the ‘Road Trip Rule Book’ out of Alfred’s pocket and flipped it open. Beneath ‘No Politics’ and ‘ _ Avons Bonheur _ ’ he wrote ‘No Ritualistic Sacrifice’.

“Aw, man!” Alfred whined. “None?”

“None!” Ludwig shouted.

“Wayta go Matt, you spoiled it.”

“Sorry,” the Canadian said sadly. Yao wondered if he should actually be  _ worried _ about this whole ‘ritualistic sacrifice thing’...

“Should we be scared of them?” Yao heard Toni whisper to Arthur and Francis.

The two blonde Europeans shuddered. “Probably.”

The group finished applying sunscreen (the job had been abandoned halfway in favor of chasing Alfred) and started walking up the trail. It was silent for a while until Matthew warned everyone that if they kept so quiet, the bears would come. That got Feliciano’s mouth moving fast.

“What kind of bears?” Lovino asked over his brother’s babbling.

“What kind of bears?” Alfred repeated. “ _ What kind of bears? _ ” He laughed somewhat hysterically. “The kind of bears know to eat human children in one whole  _ bite _ .” He cackled evilly.

Feli screamed and jumped into Ludwig’s arms and Lovi looked like he wished he’d never asked at all. Ivan, however, laughed darkly. A silence settled over the group until the only sound one could hear was an American and a Russian howling with laughter.

“Enough, you two,” Yao said, cuffing both of them on the backs of their heads. “You’re freaking everyone out.”

“Sorry, everyone,” Ivan said, smiling.

“Ayuh,” Alfred said, rubbing the back of his head. “What the Russkie said. Theys just black bears up here, by the way.”

“And they don’t eat children,” Matthew interjected. “But we should talk just to keep them away anyway.”

“What do we talk about?” Gilbert asked exasperatedly. “It’s hard to talk under pressure like this!”

“Oh! I know!” Feli said, running up ahead of everyone, turning around, and grinning. He pointed at Yao. “Yao can tell us a story!”

“That’s a great idea, Feli!” Alfred agreed. “Go for it, Yao.”

“Uh…” A  _ story _ ?! Yao was floored with panic. Did they want a fable with a lesson at the end? Did they want a story about that one time such-and-such got drunk and did something stupid? Did they want-

“Yao, dude.  _ Chill _ ,” Alfred said, apparently picking up on Yao’s panic. “Just tell us your favorite story. It can be a fable or a legend or anything.”

Yao thought a moment, considerably calmed by the American’s reasuanaces. Ah-ha! Got it. “Okay, I have one.” As they marched on up the trail, Yao told the story of Houjia, a man who tried to fish for the moon.

“There was once a very simple man called Houjia, who lived in a small town in the South of the land-”

“What land?” Toni interjected.

“ _ China _ , you halfwit,” Yao snapped. “Now shut up and listen to the story!

“There was one night in which Houjia grew very, very thirsty. He walked from his bed to discover that he had no water inside his home. So, in the dark of the night, Houjia took a vessel from his home to the well on the hill.

“As he was connecting his vessel to the rope of the well, he noticed the moon shining at the bottom of the well. ‘What a pity,’ he said. ‘The moon has fallen into my well. I must return it to its place in the sky!’

“So, Houjia ran back to his home to fetch a rope and hook. Then he returned to the well and cast the rope down to the moon at the bottom. After spending many minutes fishing for the moon, his hook finally caught on something. Thinking, of course, that this must be the moon, Houjia pulled on the rope with all of his strength. 

“But the moon would not budge. Finally, the rope broke and Houjia was thrown onto his back, where he could see the night sky. And, in that night sky, he saw the moon, where it belonged. ‘I have done well,’ he said as he walked back to his home, vessel left at the well. ‘I have returned the moon to its sky.’ From that point forth, he would tell people with pride what he had done, never knowing how foolish he was.

“The end.”

“That Houjia fellow sounds less intelligent than Alfred,” Arthur said after a moment.

“Love you too, bro,” the aforementioned American said with a grin. “But ain’t that the point? That’s the whole lesson: ‘don’t be stupid’.”

Yao shrugged. “More or less.”

“Hey, star-spangled bastard!” Lovi called.

“Hey, Lovino!” Alfred called back, knowing his ‘bastard’ title like the rest of them knew theirs.

“You ever gonna tell us what those words mean? Huh?”

“Guess~!”

So they spent the second part of their hike playing Q&A with Alfred. They started with ‘ayuh’.

“Does it mean ‘thank you’?” Toni asked.

“Nope~!” Alfred replied.

“‘You’re welcome’?” Francis asked.

“Nah.”

“What about ‘communism’?” Ivan asked.

“ _ Yes _ , Ivan,” Alfred said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I was saying ‘communism’ to the man at the toll booth.”

The Russian shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Ludwig said excitably, which was surprising, because this was  _ Ludwig _ . “I know! It means ‘yes’ doesn’t it?”

Alfred grinned at them. “Ayuh!” He high-fived the German- which was, again, surprising. “It pretty much just means ‘yep’!”

And then they moved on to ‘muggy’.

“Does it mean ‘windy’?” Arthur asked.

“No,” was Alfred’s response.

“Does it mean ‘happy’?” Lovi guessed.

“Not even  _ close _ .”

“Okay then ‘sad’?” Yao asked.

Alfred laughed. “I’ll give you a big hint. It’s  _ not _ an emotion.”

“That’s not a big hint, you loser,” Gilbert pouted.

“Okay, a  _ bigger _ hint, then… Ah! Iggy was in the general ballpark with his guess.”

“ _ Rosbif _ , what did you say?” Francis cried, shaking his boyfriend frantically. These Europeans were getting  _ way  _ to invested in the guessing game.

“Would. You. Stop. Shaking. Me?!” The Englishman begged,each word punctuated by a sharp snap of his neck going back and forth. Francis released his shoulders. “I said ‘windy’.”

“Sunny?” Feli asked.

“No, sir,” Alfred said, a small, amused smile hanging off his face.

“Rainy?” Kiku suggested.

Alfred cocked his head. “Eh, sorta. It’s more like uncomfortably humid and warm at the same time. Raining while the sun’s out kinda stuff, I guess.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Ludwig said.

“Raining while the sun’s out?”

“No, that it’s called ‘muggy’. Does it look like a mug or something?”

“Actually,” Alfred said happily, “it’s derived from the Old Norse-”

“You lost me at ‘actually’,” Matthew said with a stagey yawn. “Who cares anyway?”

“Wow, what a douche,” the younger twin commented.

“Why is Matthew a shower?” Francis asked. Yao, and everyone else to that effect, facepalmed.

They walked in single-file for a while chatting animatedly at each other about this and that, irrelevant things really. Yao was near the back of their line, talking over his shoulder to Ivan, who was bringing up the back. All of a sudden, when Yao wasn’t looking ahead of himself, he smashed into Toni, who had run into Lovi, who had run into Feli, who had run into Ludwig, who had run into Gilbert, who had run into Francis, who had run into Arthur, who had run into Matt, who had run into Kiku, who had run into Alfred, who happened to be the one leading their line, when the American had arbitrarily stopped.

Ivan ran into Yao and fell on his ass. “Ow…” the Russian complained as Yao helped him to his feet.

Alfred looked back at them with a hundred-watt smile. “Sorry~!” He motioned for the group to come closer, around the bend of the trail. “We’re here~!”

Yao peered around the trees with everyone else and was greeted with the sight of a beautiful blue lake that reflected the sky and the trees that bordered it on its surface. There were a few canoes on the bank in front of them and smooth, flat rocks on the bank opposite. The gravel of the bank crunched happily under Yao’s feet as he walked to the water and looked down. His reflection blinked back at him.

“What did I say?” Feliciano was asking as he looked eagerly at the lake and the trees. “Pretty!”

His comment was met with a round of a agreement from the others and a pleased smile from Alfred. “We’re gonna spend time ‘round here ‘till about... eh, what would you say, Mattie? two?”

“Yeah, then we’ll be in Portland by dinner.”

“Right then, ‘till two, then we’ll head back to the van and drive to Portland to hang out then have dinner.” The American clapped his hands, then gestured at the lake. “Go forth and conquer! Only don’t conquer, ‘cause this place is mine!”

Yao grabbed Ivan by the wrist and dragged him to a tree whose branches hung over the water and who, Yao hoped, would provide a good view of both the lake and the bank. Several of the others had dashed off to the canoes as soon as they’d been turned loose and a few had hung behind on the bank, potentially to soak up some sunshine.

The two ditched their backpacks at the base of the tree and climbed into its branches. Once he was high enough, Yao slithered out onto one of the skinnier branches that hung directly over the water. If it snapped, he would fall directly into the lake. Ivan, who was less willing to climb out on the same branch as Yao, settled himself in the crook between a larger branch and the trunk.

They watched as some of the group took to their boats and let Alfred ‘push’ them into the lake. They bounced like skipping stones across the water, laughing. “This is nice, isn’t it, Ivan?” Yao asked, reaching towards the trunk of the tree and nudging the Russian with his finger.

Ivan smiled. “Yeah, it is.” He looked at the lake and the nations floating on it. “I’m excited for this trip. I wonder how long we can keep this-” he gestured at the others- “up.”

“I think for as long as we want,” Yao decided, laying back down on his branch. “As long as we want…”

He watched through half-lidded eyes as the canoes paddled around the lake, zigzagging over the surface. He laughed at Arthur, who seemed to be reliving his pirate days by attempting to board Antonio’s boat, much to the disparagement of Francis and Lovino. Antonio appeared to be fending Arthur off with a stick that he had deemed close enough to a sword to do battle.

He was watching Feli babble happily at a blushing Ludwig in a further away boat, when music started drifting off the bank. Alfred, it seemed, had pulled a guitar out of his massive backpack and had decided to play it.

_ “Cherish this, ‘cause when it doesn’t last you’ll wish you had~...” _

Yao’s eyelids got heavier and heavier, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'What a good chapter, yup.' - me 2k17. *dies*  
> So all of my information for this chapter and dialects and stuff came from the void that is the internet. IF ANYTHING IS WRONG TELL ME PLEASE.  
> So, sorry for the abrupt ending that makes no sense.  
> If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment! I know I sound like a desperate bitch, but comments really help authors to write!  
> Anyway... I'll see you next Wednesday (probably) and we'll finish up this Maine business. Bye!  
> ~almost forgot, the first line of that song at the end was from Carry Your Will by the Mowgli's~

**Author's Note:**

> So, I heard that road trips aren't really a thing in Europe or Asia, so there's that. If that's not true, please tell me and I will correct my knowledge!  
> If you like the story so far, leave a review! They encourage me to keep writing!  
> If you have any ideas on what our group should do in each place they visit, please tell me! I would appreciate it ever so much! (we're starting in Maine, btw)  
> Merci d'être la!


End file.
